


The Living Must Fight

by supernatasha



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-12 19:59:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9088075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supernatasha/pseuds/supernatasha
Summary: Hogwarts is an adventure Parvati Patil can't wait to explore, even if it means being in a different House from her sister. Old friends, new loves, favorite teachers, and heartbreaks await!





	1. Year One

Parvati and Padma are inseparable their whole life, and Hogwarts is no exception. They hold each other's hand through the train ride and the boats, right up until the Sorting. Then Padma's sorted into Ravenclaw, and Parvati finds herself joining the Gryffindor table. She waves at her sister, and her sister waves back.

They don't see each other for the next four days. It is the longest they have gone without each other.

On the fifth day, when Parvati finally catches sight of her sister at breakfast, she rushes to sit beside her. As soon as she takes a seat, a Ravenclaw prefect gives her a dirty look. Ignoring it, Parvati tells Padma, "I miss you! I never get to see you anymore."

"It's only been a week," Padma smiles half-heartedly.

"Five days, actually. I think I've made a friend. His name's Neville and he's very polite. Would you like to come meet him?" Parvati asks excitedly.

Padma sighs, "Our common room is so far from yours, Paro."

Parvati doesn't like it, the way her sister says _our_ and means her House instead of her sister. When she returns back to the Gryffindor table, her smile is gone. It's impossible to focus on the rest of her meal.

"Can I have that?" the girl next to her asks.

"What? My _paratha_?" Parvati asks doubtfully. "It's stuffed with spices. You wouldn't like it."

"Couldn't hurt to try," the girl shrugs. "By the way, I'm Lavender. Nice to meet you."

Parvati smiles. Maybe Gryffindor wouldn't be so bad.

The next day, she attends her very first flying lesson. Her mother was always telling her that her father – their grandfather – in India had been a Flying Cricket champion. She can't wait to start flying and see if she could try out for the Quidditch team here. It's the closest thing they had to Flying Cricket.

To her surprise, she sees Pansy in the row across from her, beside a boy with hair so blond, it was nearly white.

They had been in primary school together, rather close friends. That was, until the day she'd visited the Parkinson house of course, where Pansy's mother kept shooting Parvati long suspicious looks and inquiring about which country her parents were from. After that, they'd never quite been friends the same way. Maybe Hogwarts would change that.

"Pansy! Hi!" Parvati waves.

Parvati can't help but think her friend is still as cute as she was at the start of their first year, when she'd had long pigtails and no front teeth. Pansy raises her hand, then instead of waving back, brushes back her brown hair and lifts her chin in the air.

Parvati frowns. _Rude_.

Then the blond beside her starts bothering Neville. Neville, her friend! She tries to stay out of it, even after Neville gets carted off sniffling and red-faced.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?" Draco, the blond boy laughs.

Beside him, Pansy laughs as well.

Really, it's Pansy's laugh that irks her far more than Draco. "Shut up, Malfoy!" she snaps at him.

"Sticking up for Longbottom? Never thought you'd like little crybabies," Pansy says, smirking.

The comment makes her face go hot. For some reason, coming from an old friend, the insult stings even more so than usual. She did _not_ like Neville, not like that, and why was Pansy being so mean to her? She'd always liked Pansy, but she realizes now, maybe it's time to grow up.

::

That first year, when they return home for Winter Break, both parents disappointed the twins did not make it home for Diwali, the girls lock themselves in their room and properly catch up. Padma talks about her friend, Luna. Parvati mentions the incident with Neville and Padma teases her about him.

"That's the second time you've told me about him. Do you have a crush on him?"

"No!" Parvati gasps. "We're only in the same House!"

"Then why'd you stick up for him?"

"Because it was the right thing to do. He was getting bullied."

"Fighting isn't dignified," Padma sniffs.

"Well, I'm not going to let someone be mean to him just because. Ma always says the living must fight cowards and bullies! Besides, Pansy used to be my friend. I couldn't believe she was acting that way. Like she was somehow better than us. It's all that Slytherin boys fault," Parvati gripes. "He's making her mean."

Padma looks at her sister with an eyebrow raised.

"What?" Parvati asks. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It isn't about your House," Padma says. "Pansy started ignoring you far before that. You… you know that, right? Her mother forbade her from seeing you. I'm sure you can figure out why."

Parvati's throat feels too dry, but she manages to speak anyway. "Nah, Padi, that was just because we were in different classes. It wasn't her mother."

Padma just shakes her and gives her a small smile, then abruptly says, "Do you know, Cho's going to try out for the Quidditch team next year? She can't even balance properly but she says she'll be the Seeker!"

Both sisters cover their mouths as they laugh. The conversation shifts and they forget about the previous topic quickly. After all, there are important things to discuss! Like the house elves who were more than happy to oblige their request for vegetarian food, and their grumpy professors, and who had a crush on who. Between gossip and giggling, they fall asleep holding hands on the bottom bunk.

When their mother comes in later to remind them of supper, unlocking the door with a flick of her wand, she finds them curled up on the bottom mattress, Padma clutching Parvati's hand.

She smiles and pulls the covers up over them.


	2. Year Two

Second year begins, and Parvati is prepared this time for the distance between herself and her sister. Ravenclaws are not keen to communicate with other Houses, it seems, and Parvati wants to give her sister space.

Instead, she befriends her roommate, Lavender Brown.

Lav's nice with gleaming dark skin and warm brown eyes, and she smiles a lot. Parvati likes her.

She talks about Professor Lockhart a lot too, which Parvati doesn't like as much. She doesn't understand the hype about him. He's a terrible teacher and his portraits are all incredibly creepy.

But when the girls sit in the common room and sigh over him, she sits there with them and pretends she's equally smitten.

It's some relief when Padma admits to not liking him either.

"He nearly got Cho killed when he let loose those Cornish Pixies, and he had no idea what spell to use when Anthony accidentally set one of his precious autobiographies on fire. Honestly, it's rather disgraceful that he was a Ravenclaw," Padma tells her, dipping her quill in ink to finish an essay that probably isn't due for another week.

Padma is _always_ writing essays. Parvati's not sure if they're all actually assigned.

"Everyone in my House thinks he's _so_ fit," Parvati rolls her eyes as she says it to emphasize just how silly she found the idea. "Can you believe that even _Hermione_ would think that about a professor?"

There's a long pause, then Padma looks up from her parchment and slowly answers, "Well he is though, isn't he?"

"He is _not,_ " Parvati snaps. "He's old and too blond and he keeps smiling with those ridiculous teeth of his."

"Yeah, but that's really what makes him handsome," Padma says, going all serious. "He's got great skin and his face is symmetrical, which is really all a person needs to be considered attractive. But then he smiles to put everyone at ease. It's all right there in the science."

"Well," Parvati glares at her sister, "I don't think so and your science isn't going to change my opinion."

"It's alright, Paro. It's nothing serious."

But she thinks it is and she refuses to speak to Padma for nearly a whole week after.

::

Lavender and Paro love sitting up in the top spire of the Gryffindor tower. There's a huge window that looks over the rest of Hogwarts, right up to the edge of the Whomping Willow, and when it snows and there's nobody down in the common rooms, it's all hushed and Parvati feels like she's stepped inside a secret world where nobody can discover them.

It's their place, just her and Lavender.

They sit there, sharing a blanket and trying to charm their cold cups of cocoa to become hot again, but neither is having much success.

Lavender stops suddenly and says, "Parvati, do you think Ron is cute?"

"Ron? Ron Weasley?" Parvati pulls a face. "No. He looks like a hedgehog. A ginger hedgehog."

"Really?" Lav frowns, runs a hand through her dark coiled hair. "He's not Professor Lockhart, but he's still cute, isn't he? Like, in the sort of way where you can pet his hair and feed him."

"So, a hedgehog."

Stifling a giggle, Lavender says, "Well, I think he's kind of cute."

"I do like red hair," Parvati admits. "And I like green eyes."

"Especially on him," Lavender grins. "Do you think he likes Hermione? They're always together, all the time, and all alone! The only time they're not alone is when Harry's with them. I think there's definitely something going on between them."

Lavender has that expression on her face she gets sometimes when she can't figure something out in Potions class. Her eyes crinkle and her tongue sticks out a tiny bit. She looks adorable.

When Parvati becomes aware she's staring, she averts her gaze, instead staring out the window at the fat flakes of snow falling to the ground. "Maybe he likes her. Maybe not," she shrugs. "I don't really pay attention. If Hermione likes anyone though, it's probably Harry, innit? Everyone's always talking about him."

"Well, yes, because he might be the Heir of Slytherin," Lavender says. "He's a bit scrawny for the Heir, isn't he? Doesn't even look like he can cast a spell properly, let alone petrify a cat. And the way he speaks Parseltongue!"

Lavender shudders, and Parvati inches closer, covering the space between them in the blankets where cold air seeps through. "Are you cold?"

"A bit," Lavender admits dismissively, mind somewhere far away. Then she winks and adds, "I'd like Ron to come up here and we could have a nice little cuddle in this blanket."

Parvati moves away.

"But anyway!" Lavender exclaims, turning her full attention to Parvati. "Enough about me! Since you've already admitted you like red hair and green eyes, but not Ron Weasley, who do _you_ think is cute!?"

Forcing a smile on her face, Parvati shrugs. She does not say Ginny's name.


	3. Year Three

Professor Sybill Trelawney is her favorite. Parvati hasn't ever had a favorite professor for as long as she can remember, but Professor Sybil with her wonderful owl-like glasses and her voice trembling with effort – oh, Parvati thinks she's just lovely.

After their second Divination class, Parvati drags a complaining Lavender with her after class to speak with Professor Trelawney.

"Professor Trel-"

"Oh, dear, just call me Professor Sybill, won't you?"

"Of course!" Parvati beams. "Professor Sybill, I thought I saw something like a dove in the swirls, but I can't be too sure. I was wondering if my crystal gazing could be better if I burnt sage incense while I practiced."

The professor takes a long look at her before she says, "That is an excellent idea. Did you read it in your book?"

Parvati frowns, trying to remember, and Lavender blurts out, "Can I see who I marry in my crystal ball?"

"Seeing is a rare gift," Professor Sybil scolds. "It should not be used on such petty concerns. If you become a true Seer one day, it's possible you will know who you marry before you meet them. But trying to seek out information hidden is done for a good reason. Sometimes, knowing the truth can lead one to madness. Do either of you think you can be true Seers and take on that responsibility?"

"Yes!" Parvati says eagerly, "My mum says she has an aunt in India who has the gift of Sight."

"Then perhaps you can be a Seer, too. Did you know, I'm descended from the Great Cassandra herself?"

"That's amazing! My mum says _her_ mum's family comes from the great seer Sanjay! She's even promised me his Tarot cards, well, once I'm old enough to use them properly," Parvati adds, grinning.

Professor Sybill nods knowingly, "Come see me for extra lessons tomorrow after your classes are over, the both of you." Satisfied, Parvati turns to leave, when Professor Sybill's voice calls, "Parvati, were the doves flying?"

"Yes, professor."

"My dear, that means love."

That night, Katie Bell asks to sit beside her in the Common Room.

"Yeah, I guess," Parvati mutters, moving her Tarot cards and crystal ball.

"Thanks," Katie replies. "Angelina and Alicia have extra Quidditch practice and I'm going out of my mind alone in my dorm. It's spooky, you know, with the rumors of Sirius Black on the loose."

Parvati hums along with Katie, returning to her work.

"Is that transfiguration?" she asks. "I'm rather good at it, if you need help. I remember last year I could never keep up with the others, so I spent all my free time studying."

Looking up at Katie carefully for the first time, at her pale cheeks reddened by the cold and her dark hair falling over her forehead, Parvati says, "Actually, I could use some help."

When Katie leans over to read her scrolls, Parvati inhales her scent. A stirring runs through her, from the hair prickling on her scalp to the tips of her toes. Feeling her cheeks blush, she snatches up her bag and stuffs the parchment and quills in. "I have to go," she mutters hastily, turning and nearly running up to her dorm.

Once she reaches her bed, she throws herself down on the mattress and tries to breathe normally again. What was wrong with her? Katie had looked beautiful in the candle light. She should've said something, complimented her or said something nice.

_Or am I too afraid?_

What's that expression – being in the closet? Is she in the closet? It feels more like a coffin, like someone had shut her into a casket and she was suffocating in it.

Hot tears suddenly spill over Parvati's cheeks.

When she hears Hermione and Lavender's voices, Parvati pulls the covers over herself and pretends to be asleep. Embarrassing herself in front of Katie is bad enough. The other girls don't need to see her crying.

She doesn't realize when she falls asleep, but she has a nightmare where she's trapped in a closet and she pounds her fists against the wall, but she realizes it isn't a closet; it's a coffin, and she's turned into a withered old mummy waiting to come out.

When she wakes with a scream, imagining her mouth filled with dust and her lungs suffocating, it's Lavender who joins her in bed and holds her until she's stopped shaking.

::

Professor Lupin is very polite to them. Parvati likes him.

She likes him the tiniest bit less when he tells them they'll be summoning their worst fears. She moves closer to her sister, wondering if she could get out of doing the assignment.

"Mine will be falling into the Slytherin dorms, watch," Padma whispers. "What about you?"

"Um. Uh, I don't know. I don't have any fears."

Padma just rolls her eyes. "Typical Gryffindor," she mutters.

Parvati doesn't know what she means by that, but all it does is make her feel even worse.

When she's up, Parvati takes a deep breath and takes her place. Her legs are already trembling and she can feel her vision misting. What would the Boggart show? Padma's shocked face comes to mind. Her parent's disappointed head shake. Lavender's disgust.

But as she watches, a mummy comes swaggering out of a coffin just like the one she had dreamed of a few nights ago. The mummy casually sways onward, looking more ominous than anything else, but it is the coffin that seems to invite her in, murmuring that once she was cozy and warm inside, it would slam shut.

 _No!_ She isn't going to be scared her whole life! The living must fight!

"Riddikulus!" Parvati flicks her wand and imagines the coffin full of bandages, too many so there would be no room for her to fit in there. The mummy trips over them and disintegrates, and then Padma's patting her back and telling her she did great (for a Gryffindor), and Parvati knows now she's more scared of staying in her coffin than coming out.


	4. Year Four

Everyone's talking about the Yule Ball. _Everyone._

Lavender never bloody shuts up about it. She has a problem: she wants to go with Ron, but she doesn't want to ask him out.

"I have an idea!" Lavender squeals. " _You_ go with him!"

"What?" Parvati balks. "No!"

"Pleeeease, Paro. Tell me everything he does, how he dances, what he eats – c'mon! It isn't like you have a date anyway!"

She had wanted to ask Katie, of course, but she hasn't quite thought of what to say yet. "I'll have someone by the time the Ball comes," she mutters, feeling her cheeks turn red.

"But if you don't, promise to go with Ron?"

"Alright," she grumbles, mostly to get Lavender off her back.

Lavender flashes her a thumbs up and says, "I'm going to be wearing a lavender dress. You get it? Lavender!?"

Parvati gets it.

A few days later, their packages from home arrive. Raja, her mother's bright blue peacock, flies among the owls with her package. The box drops straight onto her tofu loaf, flattening it down to nothing. Parvati groans. It takes long enough to remind the elves she's a vegetarian. Now she'll have to go remind them about it again for her second meal.

Raja lands on the table and knocks over her orange juice into Neville's lap.

"I'm so sorry," Parvati apologizes.

"It's alright. I've never seen a peacock before," Neville says, staring at the haughty bird pecking at the squashed remains of Parvati's tofu loaf.

She opens her box and pulls out a bright pink blouse. She recognizes her mother's handiwork at the charm spell she always uses to make the sequins dance on their threads. Parvati turns to the Ravenclaw table to see Padma pulling out a similar looking blouse, only in turquoise instead of pink. Rani, their father's shy brown peahen, sits in Padma's lap.

Of course Rani had delivered Padma's clothes.

After dinner, as they're heading back to their common rooms, Padma nudges her. "Did you see what Ma sent us!" Padma grins. "My lehenga is definitely prettier than yours."

"They're the same, Padi," Parvati snaps. "They're just different colors."

"Yes," her sister says patiently. "Only mine is prettier."

It's actually the sort of joke Parvati would've made herself if she hadn't been cross with Lavender, and it irks her. "Whatever," Parvati mumbles.

Padma grabs her shoulder and stops her in the middle of the crowded hall. "What's wrong with you? Did someone say something?" She looks ready to hex whoever the offending someone might be.

She considers saying it right then and there. She nearly opens her mouth and tells her sister _everything._ But then she ends up muttering instead, "I don't have a date. Lav keeps trying to set me up with Ron but I don't want to go with him."

Padma chuckles. "Is that it? I'll tell you what, I'll go with Ron and get Lavender off your case. You know, it's fine if you don't have anyone to go with. You can just go alone." Padma smirks and adds, "Of course you know Harry Potter doesn't have anyone to go with yet, either."

And that's how Parvati ends up at the Ball with Harry Potter.

It's possibly the worst experience she has had. Harry keeps staring at Cho Chang and he doesn't even _once_ offer to dance with Parvati.

Halfway through, she ditches Potter to dance with a boy from Beauxbatons who asks her, Jack. She wishes a girl had asked her instead but she says yes to the boy anyway, mostly because someone had asked Padma and she is now waving enthusiastically at her sister from the dance floor.

Near the end of the evening, Jack asks her if she'd like to spend some time with him the next day studying.

"Sure," Parvati smiles politely.

"It's a date then!" Jack beams.

Her mouth drops open, but before she can protest further, he's already heading back to his dorm with the rest of the Beauxbatons students.

 _It is not a date_ , she thinks to herself snippily as she joins the crowd of girls going back to the Gryffindor common room. Inadvertently, she realizes she's stepped in behind Katie and Alicia, talking about the boys they had danced with.

"Mine didn't even know his feet from his hands," Alicia laughs.

"I wish I'd just gone alone," Katie says. She glances back at Parvati and smiles before turning back to her friends. "Actually, I wish I'd asked the right person to the Ball."

Heat rises to Parvati's face. She can feel the tips of her ears blushing.

As they enter the common room together, Katie's hand brushes gently against Parvati's.

::

Jack is really very well-mannered, though he spends too much time staring at her instead of his books. Finally, he asks, "Did you actually want to do this or were you just being nice to me when you said yes?"

Looking up from her textbook, Parvati says, "No, no… this is okay."

The truth is, she's still distracted from the night before, from Katie's soft touch and her heady scent whenever she passes by Parvati. She had figured it was better to get out of the common room instead of staring at Katie from across the room, trying to figure out what her look last night had meant before she said the thing about the right person.

"Is it really? Either you're failing all your classes and really need to study, or this date is going terribly."

Clearing her throat, Parvati says, "I didn't really think it'd be a date. I thought you really did just need to study."

Jack smiles and says, "Then I'll make it better for both of us." He stands and holds out his hand to her.

She's reluctant at first, but ends up levitating her Divination things into her pack and taking his hand. He leads her outside the castle, passing by a gaggle of Ravenclaw girls, who stare at Padma's twin sister holding hands with a Beauxbatons boy.

Oh, great. Now Padma would know she went on a date.

Outside, Jack adjusts his scarf around his neck and guides her closer to the lake. Her hands are freezing and she left her gloves back in her room. She never should have agreed to this. It's just a waste of time. She considers casting a spell to make the air around herself warm, but she remembers the last time Seamus had attempted the spell, he'd ended up setting his eyebrows on fire.

When they're far away enough from the castle that there's no one else around, Jack says, "I wanted to do this last night, but I didn't want everyone to see. You're the most beautiful person I've ever met."

Then he leans down and kisses her – right on the mouth.

For a moment, Padma's too stunned to reply. Then she pulls away and says quickly, "I have to go!"

She takes off running back to the castle, clutching her pack tightly. Jack calls after her but she pretends she doesn't hear. Tears spring to her eyes and she wipes them angrily, never stopping her mad run, never looking up at the clouds and the image of flying doves in them.

Blindly, she bolts through the castle, hoping no one would stop her or see her red eyes and runny nose.

The Fat Lady does stop her, asking for the password.

"Banana Fritters," she sniffs.

"Incorrect, my dear. The password has been changed only a few minutes ago."

"Oh, just bloody let me in!" Parvati snaps.

The Fat Lady looks offended for a moment, but something about Parvati's harried appearance must strike a chord in her. The door swings open.

Parvati makes her way into the common room and immediately heads for the stairs. She keeps her head low and practically runs up the stairs as fast as she can. Once she gets to her room, she throws her pack down and curls up on the bed.

Within minutes, she's crying again.

A knock on her door surprises her. None of her roommates normally knock. She wipes her face on her pillowcase and calls in a wavery voice, "Come in."

It's Katie, with her long hair swept behind her in a ponytail and a concerned expression. "Hi," she says. "I saw you come in and you looked upset. I hope I'm not bothering you."

Her heart's pounding too fast. Parvati pulls up her knees and says, "No, it's okay. I was just… it's nothing. Thank you for checking on me."

"There's no Quidditch this year, so I've got plenty of free time."

"Is that the only reason you came up here?"

Katie sits down beside her. Parvati's eyes flick from the other girl's face to her own hands. "I was just wondering, do you want to talk about whatever's on your mind? It's just, I know when something happens to me and Angela or Alicia aren't around, I always feel like there's so much stuff inside that needs to be said. And I know Lavener… well, she's busy, isn't she? So I just thought, you know, if you needed it, I'm here."

Steeling her nerves, Parvati blurts out, "What did you mean last night? When you said you wanted to ask the right person?"

Katie stares right at her. "What do you think I meant?"

Impulsively, Parvati leans forward and kisses Katie.

It's soft and hesitant, the slightest pressure of mouths against each other. Parvati inhales contentedly when Katie doesn't pull away. Then Katie parts her lips and curls her tongue against Parvati's skin and Parvati giggles, pulling away.

"I hope that wasn't too much," Katie says quickly, apologetically.

"I liked it," Parvati assures her.

Katie relaxes, then reaches out and takes Parvati's hand. "You look really cute when you blush. It makes your skin go all dark and rosy."

Just the comment makes her blush again. "That was my first real kiss," she marvels.

She's already forgotten Jack.


	5. Year Five

Half the summer goes by before Parvati works up her nerve to finally say something.

As night falls outside their window, Parvati crawls into her bed across from Padma's. They never bothered moving into their own separate rooms. It feels better this way. They already spend too much time apart when they're at Hogwarts.

She waits for her sister to finish reading. Once Padma closes the book and slides it into her desk drawer, Parvati says, "Can we talk?"

"Of course," Padma doesn't look up, flipping through her other books and straightening the things on her desk. "Go on," she adds when Parvati doesn't answer the first time.

Her face feels too warm. "Nothing," Parvati says quickly.

Padma reaches out with her wand and murmurs under her breath. Their lights go out.

They lie in silence for a long time.

"Padma?" Parvati says quietly.

In the dark, she thinks for a moment Padma must be asleep. Then, finally, "What is it?"

"I like girls."

There is a long silence, Parvati's heart beating madly in her chest, staring up at the phosphorescent glow-in-the-dark stars they had put up together by hand as children, their mother flicking her wand whenever one fell and returning it to its place. The stars that are slowly fading again to black. At last, her sister whispers back, "Okay. Good night, Paro. I love you."

"I love you, too."

The next morning is an inquisition.

"So how come you went on a date with that boy? The one from Beauxbatons?" Padma asks softly at breakfast the next morning, twirling her spoon in the leftover milk of her cereal.

Parvati glances back to assure her parents are both in the garden pampering Raja and Rani before she answers, "I don't know. He was nice to me. And he was okay looking, I guess – well, he wasn't _bad_ looking. Besides, he didn't even give me a chance to say no! And Harry bloody Potter wouldn't dance with me at the Yule Ball."

"Paro! None of those sound like very good reasons," Padma says disapprovingly.

"I know, they're not. But everyone was dating; I didn't want to be the only one in Gryffindor twiddling her thumbs and not having anything to say in the Common Room."

"Did you snog him?"

"Padma!"

"Well, did you?" Padma asks, looking up from her bowl curiously.

"Yes," she mutters.

"Have you ever snogged a girl?"

Remembering Katie Bell last year, Parvati blinks quickly and looks away from Padma's prying gaze. "Yes, I have. And no, I'm not going to tell you who so don’t even bother asking."

Padma looks disappointed for a second, then, "What're you going to do now?"

"Well, first _we're_ going to convince Ma and Papa to let us go back to Hogwarts next year. Papa's completely freaking out over the rumors of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He actually wants us to go to the wizarding school in Delhi! I don't want to go to Gurukul! I want to stay here."

Padma glances at her and smiles slyly. A mirror of the same smile appears of Parvati's face. They'll get out of this together, as they have with other challenges. Their parents never could handle the twins working together.

::

The return back to Hogwarts, which had been a long persuasive argument with their parents that ended inevitably in the twins' victory, holds a new surprise: Dumbledore's Army.

The night they had all signed up for it, Katie and Parvati sneak down to the common room to get away from their roommates.

"We have two new professors! An actual centaur is taking over for Professor Trelawney, and while I really miss her, I think he'll be teaching us a lot. And do you know who's taking over the for Defence Against the Dark Arts professor?" she whispers to Katie, curled up together on the couch. "It's Harry Potter!"

"Harry's a professor? Who hired him? What happened to Umbridge?" Katie whispers her string of questions, stroking the back of Parvati's arm.

"Have you even _seen_ what she's doing in her classroom? It's a joke. If any of us ever come across Death Eaters, we'd be done. So Harry told us he'd teach us. We’re doing it in the Room of Requirement."

In the dimmed lanterns, Parvati can just barely make out the shock on her girlfriend's face. "I thought that was a myth. No one's ever found it!"

Parvati smiles proudly. "Well, we have! I'll ask Harry if you can join too, even if you're a year above us."

"I'm sure I could convince Angela and Alicia to join too. Alicia's Stunning Spell is terrible."

"I'd love to have you there," Parvati murmurs.

Katie kisses her softly. "Be careful, okay? Did you know we actually have a new Quidditch captain? It's Angela. She's absolutely mental. She wants us to practice at least three hours every day!"

"I'll come cheer you on in the stands," Parvati assures her.                  

There's silence for a moment, then, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Why?"

"Well, see, Angela doesn't actually know about us yet."

Parvati wants to protest, but she hasn't really told Padma or Lavender about Katie yet either. If she brings it up, she'll be a hypocrite.

So instead she cuddles closer to Katie and rests her head on her shoulder. Her mind drifts off, thinking about how she'd do something about that horrid Umbridge, maybe something about the infernal speakers she'd put around Hogwarts, blaring her voice every hour of the day. Katie's presence is comforting and she can't remember the last time she had felt so relaxed, especially with all the Death Eaters around.

It's sitting there in Katie's arms that the idea comes to her.

When she says good night to Katie and heads back up to her room, she's distracted formulating her plan, knowing her sister would fill in the blanks.

The next day, she finds Padma during their training in the Room of Requirement and says, "The speakers? I know how to make sure they never bother any of us again."

Padma raises an eyebrow. "Okay… I'm listening."

Parvati's just beginning to outline her plan with the Babbling Beverage when Ginny runs in looking slightly breathless.

"Sorry I'm late for practice," Ginny says. "Something happened at Quidditch practice."

"What?" Parvati asks, trying to seem casual, turning away from her sister.

"Er, my brother gave Katie something or another and she had to go up to the hospital wing," Ginny shrugs. "I'm not really sure."

"Katie?" Parvati demands. "Katie Bell? What happened to her? What did he give her? Which bloody brother? Is she okay? Is she at the hospital wing now?"

Ginny looks a bit overwhelmed by all the questions. She answers the last one, "Yes. Fred was just taking her there when I bumped into them on the staircase."

Parvati tucks her wand into her robes and heads toward the door.

"Paro?" Padma calls, but Parvati only waves as she lets the door slam shut behind her.

Her heart is beating too fast and her fingers are trembling in the slightest as she runs up a flight of stairs. A group of first-years gawk at her as she rushes past them, hardly even looking at her surroundings. But by the time she reaches Madame Pompfrey's, at least she has resumed some manner of control over herself.

The first thing she notices is the blood. There's too much of it, soaking through Katie's blouse and her scarf, smeared all over her face and neck. Katie has her head tipped backward, eyes closed, bloodied hands clutching the rails of her bed.

Madame Pompfrey's fussing with Fred Weasley with their backs turned when Parvati approaches the bed slowly.

"I didn't know George slipped it into my pocket!" Fred insists but Parvati drowns his words out.

She takes Katie's hand and Katie's eyes flash open. Her lips curve up in a smile when she notices who's holding her hand.

Parvati leans close and whispers, "Are you alright?"

Katie nods, but her grip on Parvati's hand tightens.

"What are you doing here, young lady?" Madame Pompfrey demands, and Parvati realizes both the nurse and Fred are staring at them. "Katie's not up for visitors yet, she can hardly talk."

"I won't bother her, I swear. I won't try to make her talk," Parvati promises, "I'll just sit here until she can."

"Alright then, so long as you won't be a nuisance," she says, "And you, Mr. Weasley! If I see another one of your infernal treats get a student in trouble again, I'll taking matters into my own hands, you hear? Quidditch practice will be the very least of your worries!"

Fred nods, but he's got his eyebrow raised and his mischievous gaze is focused on Katie and Parvati's hands intertwined.

For a single heartbeat, Parvati considers snatching her hand away, but then she clenches her jaw and decides not to, and Fred glances up at her and winks in a way that makes her feel more light headed than embarrassed.

She winks back.


	6. Year Six

They have their first real fight the next year. It's about Padma.

"You should've asked me before telling her," Katie says, arms crossed and eyebrows pulled together. Anger is barely concealed in her voice.

"Look, I already told you. We were on the Hogwarts Express and I accidentally mentioned your name, then she figured it out. I wasn't going to deny it, but I didn't tell her anything!"

"She's your _Ravenclaw sister_ , you should've known."

"Oh, now that's just ridiculous. I can't read minds," Parvati defends herself, feeling her cheeks grow warm under Katie's glare. "And besides, I know Padma and she isn't going to tell anyone. She doesn't gossip."

"How do you know? What if someone does find out? It's not like I have many friends left since Alicia and Angela left."

"Katie, it's your last year at Hogwarts," Parvati snaps. "And we aren't even allowed to tell anyone we're seeing each other. Why can't we just tell everyone we're together? I don't want to hide my whole life, I'm done with it. I'm not a coward and I'm not ashamed, and neither should you be."

For a minute, Katie stares at her, then her expression softens.

"You're right. I just thought we'd have more time."

"I don't want to pressure you," Parvati says, suddenly realizing it wasn't fair to push Katie into something she didn't want. "If you don't want to, we won't tell."

Katie sighs, long and tired. "I'll tell Leanne. Just give me a few weeks."

"You don't have to," Parvati repeats, suddenly ashamed at her stubbornness, feeling more and more embarrassed at picking the stupid fight.

Katie's lips curve up into a smile. She steps forward and leans close to her girlfriend. "Yes, but I want to."

Parvati presses her lips softly into Katie's cheek and she smells _nice,_ like something soft and warm and the words are out of her mouth before she even thinks them, "Have I ever told you that I love you?"

She hadn't actually, but as soon as the words are out of her mouth, she freezes. She blinks twice, then opens her mouth to take it back and –

"I love you, too," Katie whispers.

It takes an active effort not to cast a spell to keep her feet on the ground.

::

They're both cozy under the covers, whispering softly to each other, knowing this is borrowed time. In just a few minutes, they'd have to get up. Padma was on her way over so they could both go to Hogsmeade together.

"I think I'm going to tell Leanne today," Katie murmurs.

"Mhm," Parvati answers, trying not to think about it. "You tell Leanne and I promise to tell Lavender."

"Lavender's dating Ron, isn't she? How's that going?"

Parvati groans and they both giggle, knowing exactly how it was going – well enough to drive Parvati completely mad. It had been weighing on her more often these days that she hadn't told her best friend about her girlfriend yet. Lavender was _busy_ though, what with her boyfriend being the star of Quidditch and all. Perhaps it was best to wait. Her Tarot cards had told her she had some tough times coming up and she didn't want to add to it yet.

It isn't long before both girls force themselves out of bed and head downstairs, walking just close enough so their robe sleeves brush against each other, walking just distantly enough that no one registers them as together.

At the bottom of the staircase, Padma waits for Parvati with a tapping foot and a raised eyebrow.

"Paro, I've been waiting for – oh. I see," she glances at Katie and the raised eyebrow nearly reaches Padma's hairline. "That explains why you're six minutes late."

Parvati rolls her eyes but still hugs her sister and says, "Well? Do you want to complain about being late some more? Because I can wait."

Padma huffs and starts walking, and Parvati only delays long enough to grin at Katie before she follows. "So what's on the agenda today?" she asks, knowing Padma always tries to schedule their Hogsmeade visits down to the minute.

Her sister clears her throat and says, "You'll see."

Frowning, Parvati opens her mouth, then promptly shuts it as she realizes they would probably be meeting up with Harry and the rest of the group. So instead she asks, "Padi, how do you think Lavender will react when I tell her about Katie?"

"Are you worried your best friend won't be supportive?" Padma asks.

A wave of stubbornness wells in Parvati. That's not what she thinks – or rather, that's not what she will ever admit to thinking. "No! Of course not. I'm just, you know, wondering."

Padma glances back. "When are you going to tell her?"

"Um, today? When we get back from Hogsmeade?"

The look on Padma's face is hard to make out, but Parvati thinks it might be pride.

They link arms all the way to Hogsmeade, Padma quietly explaining how she thinks there might be a way to sneak Parvati into a Slug Club party (a side-project Parvati had been working on since she now had all this time Lav's absence freed up).

A few butterbeers and failed ideas later, making their way back to Hogwarts, the twins hear a shriek.

Paro immediately recognizes Katie's voice. She takes off running, legs moving too slow, lungs burning. She reaches just in time to see Katie suspended in the air, Leanne crying, a dark necklace lying in the pale snow.

Pulling out her wand, Parvati opens her mouth, but her brain goes blank as she tries to figure out what to do, and all she can hear is screaming and her sister gripping her shoulders and Katie – Katie… whipping through the air with an anguished howl etched into her face.

Her world comes down.


	7. Year Seven

She's miserable. She misses Katie all the time, and when she doesn't miss Katie, she misses Padma, and for the few minutes she's not too busy stressing over schoolwork or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, she's too scared to miss anyone.

The Gryffindor common room is drab and silent, only quiet whispers and shifty glances. Somehow, Hermione's chattering and Ron's joking and Harry's constant (somehow comforting) presence is severely lacking. Neville sits beside her when Lavender's not with her and she's grateful for whatever company she can get.

He's with her today as well, as she flips Tarot cards, lays them out, aimlessly shuffles them. They sit quietly beside each other for a few minutes.

"Do you miss her?" Neville asks.

With a sigh, Parvati glances up at him. He's playing around with something in his hands, flipping it between his fingers with such uncharacteristic dexterity that she suspects the coin may be charmed. Parvati murmurs wistfully, "Yeah," then sharply stares up at him. "What? Who?"

"Katie," he says, looking surprised.

"How do you know about that?"

"I think everyone knows," Neville says almost apologetically. "Were we not supposed to?"

She should've known they wouldn't have missed her spending every waking hour by Katie's bed in the hospital wing last year. "I guess it doesn't matter," she replies. "I can't see anything in the crystal ball anymore, I just… I don't know what to do."

They're both quiet for another moment. Neville mutters under his breath and the coin in Neville's hands lights up with a peculiar glow, a bright yellow.

Curiosity finally getting the best of her, Parvati asks, "What is that?"

"Our coins. From Dumbledore's Army. Do you still have yours?"

"Of course. We all still have ours. Dean and I were just talking about how we keep them hidden."

Neville glances up at her, eyebrows knit together. It's a look that usually means Neville doesn't understand something in Potions, or that he's trying to figure out how Draco's comment is actually an insult. But more and more often, it's a look that says they're all going to end up in some kind of trouble.

Almost afraid to ask, some sense inside her (the Seer sense, Professor Sybil would say) warning against it, Parvati finally manages, "What?"

"I think I have an idea," Neville says slowly, a smile lighting up his face.

That is how the Army begins again.

::

Hogwarts is falling apart – it's already fallen apart, and now the pieces are scattering.

Paro is terrified, but she's never been more sure of anything as she joins her classmates in fighting Voldemort. She tries to stay close to Padma, close to Lavender and Katie, close to the Army, all working as one, but it's hard to keep track of where everyone is.

There are spells flying over her head, nasty greens and electric oozing yellows that stink of pain – but Peeves is flying up there, too, and she's comforted whenever she manages a glimpse of him. She catches sight of Lavender on the balcony, but just as she turns to head down, she see's a Death Eater coming toward Dean.

Without a second thought, she sends a curse his way. A sound from underneath the floor sends a shock through the Hall, and Parvati snaps her head to the balcony, toward Lavender.

Lavender isn't there.

 It's Hermione. For a split second, their eyes meet, then Hermione turns and runs behind Ron.

The war has stopped.

Lavender.

No.

_No._

Parvati can't see anything but Lavender lying below her.

"LAVENDER! _LAVENDER!_ " Parvati shrieks, her voice rising above the sound of the battle all around her. "Lavender!" She breaks into a run down the stairs, and she can hear Katie behind her casting some spell at a Death Eater heading toward them, but all she can think is, _this can't be happening, this shouldn't be happening._

There's blood on Lavender's uniform, nearly as dark as her skin. Parvati falls to the ground beside her, tearing her stockings and skinning both her knees. She grabs Lavender's collar. Her lips are bloody.

Her eyes are closed.

There's a growl, a shattering, then a hand on Parvati's shoulder.

"Dear, Parvati dear, you mustn't linger. There's nothing you can do. Come, come now, child."

Parvati looks up with tears filming her eyes. Professor Sybill helps her stand, then Padma is running to her and hugging her tight, whispering, "Paro, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

"I…" Parvati's voice cracks and she shakes her head. She lets her sister embrace her, Katie breathing hard and holding her hand, and she feels it in the air that tastes like death, sweet and sickly, rotting and decaying.

"Paro, we need to get to the others, something's happening," Padma is frantically whispering, and there is another whisper slithering and crawling into her, Voldemort's voice.

"Please," Parvati begs, "You don't understand. I need to cover her. I need to bring her with us. I love her. She needs me, I need to go to her."

But her sobs are ignored and she is being pulled away from what had once been her best friend but was now just a bleeding body on the floor of the hall.

Paro loses herself, somewhere between the whispers and the screams, somewhere between the sobs and the blood. She loses everything.

The war hasn't stopped.

The living must fight; the living must kill.


	8. Epilogue

Parvati and Padma hold hands as they wait for the trial to end.

They're all there – Neville standing beside her, Dean and Seamus sitting on the benches on the opposite side, Ron and Hermione quietly whispering to one another, even her parents waiting in the chambers outside the courtroom.

Katie had asked if Paro wanted her there, swearing she would leave everything if Paro only asked her to.

Paro didn't.

"It's over now," Padma whispered to her, squeezing her hand tighter. "They've sentenced him to Azkaban. He'll never hurt anyone ever again."

Fenrir Greyback.

Lavender's murderer.

"I need air," Parvati murmured, pulling away from her sister. She silently walks to the door. When she meets Ron's gaze, she can see the grief in his eyes the same as she can see it in the mirror. She quickly looks away.

Once outside the door, her parents immediately wrap her between them in a hug.

"How did it go? Was your girlfriend there? Was Harry Potter there? Who testified? Did he get sentenced to Azkaban?" her dad demands.

"Ravi," her mom says sharply, then softer to Parvati, "Are you okay, dear?"

"Yes, ma. I just need to go outside for a bit. By myself," she adds as her father starts buttoning his coat. He sheepishly undoes the buttons.

"Of course," she nods. "Your father and I will wait here."

Parvati makes her way to the doorway, avoiding the flying sheaths of paper overhead, ducking under the heavy ones that flew lower. Everyone had been trying to put the pieces back together, even though there were too many missing to see the picture anymore. Even Paro hadn't seen anything in her crystal ball for months.

She reaches for the Tarot cards in her robe pockets and clutches them. They're always warm. Her mother had given them to her after the battle, a family heirloom, a comfort.

Outside, Parvati pulls the deck out and casts the spell that had been Lavender's favorite divination on the deck. She lets the cards go and watches them levitate before holding out her right hand.

_What is my strength?_

 The first card to land on her hand is Saraswati: The Queen of Pentacles.

_What is my weakness?_

The second card is an image of a woman in a sari pouring water into the sacred Ganga river: Temperance.

_What is my future?_

Parvati watches anxiously as the card to float delicately onto on her outstretched palm is that of the goddess Kali standing over her tiger with her tongue dripping blood, the skulls around her neck grinning: Strength.

In Kali's face, Paro sees a familiar glimmer, the passion of her best friend, the intelligence of her sister, the passion of her mother, her own resilience.

Parvati lets the cards float back into the deck and pockets them.

Whatever it is that the future will bring, Paro realizes it cannot break her.

She is ready.


End file.
